Grand Committee
(2 years, 1 month ago)
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Football Spectators (Relevant Offences) Regulations 2022
(2 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Sharpe of Epsom
That the Grand Committee do consider the Football Spectators (Relevant Offences) Regulations 2022.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Sharpe of Epsom) (Con)
My Lords, this is a simple but important measure, which will ensure that those convicted of football-related offences involving class A drugs can be subjected to football banning orders. We had been on a long-term downward trend when it came to football disorder. However, we have just had a football season which saw more football-related arrests than in any of the previous seven seasons. Sadly, it is clear that, after pandemic restrictions were lifted, some football fans have concertedly pushed at the unlawful boundaries of safety and security, and this includes taking cocaine while attending football.
The police have been clear that they have seen an increase in drug-fuelled disorder at regulated football matches. This backs up the conclusions of the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, who was commissioned by the Football Association to undertake an independent review surrounding the completely unacceptable disorder by England football fans seen at the Euro 2020 final. The noble Baroness found that cocaine use was rife during Euro Sunday, and witnesses on the day were terrified by the reckless and aggressive behaviour of some fans. Unfortunately, this trend has continued since the Euro 2020 final. A recent study found cocaine traces on nearly all tested toilet cisterns at a major football ground, and the police have found it necessary to carry out matchday operations to seize drugs at football matches and arrest individuals. Cocaine use is highly harmful to both the user and those around them. There is a clear nexus between those who are under the influence of class A drugs and those who have propensity to cause trouble.
A football banning order is an effective tool to help to combat this rise in football-related disorder. We want to be clear that anybody causing trouble at football matches is liable to a ban from all regulated football matches for between three and 10 years. Football banning orders have historically proved successful in preventing known troublemakers continuing to offend and deterring others from offending. This is an important point: we want to prevent offenders attending matches and deter others from future offending. Watching football is not a crime, obviously, but commit crime at football, spoil the match experience for everyone else, and you are not welcome and will be prevented from attending.
The instrument contains a measure to address this; it will ensure that those who turn up to football matches in possession of class A drugs or intending to supply class A drugs to others will be subject to football banning order proceedings following conviction. This will give the police an effective tool to combat the rise in drug use seen at football matches. Police data shows that there were over 140 reported arrests for drug offences during the 2021-22 football season. We cannot allow decent football fans to be frightened of attending matches, or football stadia to become unsafe.
I reassure your Lordships that this order has the backing of the Football Association, the Premier League, the English Football League and the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for football policing. I know your Lordships will recognise the detrimental effects that class A drug supply, possession and use can have at a football match, and I hope that your Lordships support this measure to combat these offences that have contributed to a rise in football-related disorder. I commend this order to the Committee and beg to move.
Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Lab)
My Lords, I welcome the statutory instrument and thank the Minister for introducing it so clearly. I regret that it is necessary. It is depressing that, according to the official statistics published by the Home Office on 22 September, the incidence of football-related disorder is at its highest level for some years—a fact that the Minister referred to. There were 2,198 football-related arrests under Schedule 1 to the Football Spectators Act 1989 in the 2021-22 football season—around 59% higher than those in the 2018-19 pre-Covid season and comparable to the levels seen in the 2011-12 and 2013-14 seasons. A new factor is the incidence of drug-taking at football matches, hence the reason for this order.
Those of us who were involved with the efforts of the football bodies and the Government to tackle what was described as hooliganism associated with the game in the 1980s and 1990s knew that alcohol played a huge part in many of the events that shamed English football at that time. Your Lordships may have seen that there is currently a three-part series of programmes on Channel 4 on Monday evenings which centre on the Italia 90 World Cup. They remind us how dire the reputation of English fans at home and abroad then was.
We had hoped that this was all behind us, but quite obviously that is not so. That impression is reinforced if one studies the excellent independent report produced for the FA by the noble Baroness, Lady Casey of Blackstock, on the events surrounding the Euro final at Wembley on 11 July 2021, to which the Minister referred. This was the subject of a Private Notice Question I asked on 6 December—almost a year ago now—in which I said:
“She makes it clear in her report that we shall never know for sure how close we came to a huge disaster involving major loss of life, caused by 6,000 ticketless fans outside the stadium who were ready to storm inside had England won the penalty shootout.”—[Official Report, 6/12/21; col. 1641.]
Contained in the noble Baroness’s report were a number of comments about drug-taking. For example, page 26 says:
“Eyewitness accounts given to the media in the immediate aftermath of Euro Sunday state that there was use of drugs, in particular cocaine, among the crowd. These are supported by the Review’s survey, which suggests illegal-drug taking must have been widespread and taken place in plain sight. More than 3,500 respondents (47 per cent) said they saw illegal drug taking when they arrived at Wembley.”
As the noble Baroness pointed out, and the Minister has confirmed today,
“Football Banning Orders (FBOs) can be given to supporters in relation to alcohol misuse. Offences include ‘possession of alcohol or being drunk while entering/trying to enter a ground’. But there is no equivalent provision for drugs”—
so far. As the Casey report says on page 117,
“drug use in football stadiums is a growing concern for football and policing officials.”
She cites the finding of cocaine traces on almost all the toilet cisterns of a major football ground.
Unsurprisingly, the noble Baroness said in recommendation 5 that
“the Home Office should consider … ensuring that the FBO regime to ensure drugs-related disorderly behaviour is treated in the same way as alcohol-related disorder”.
This SI implements that recommendation, and therefore I welcome it. I hope that the Minister will be able to confirm that the Government are taking equally seriously the other recommendations contained in the noble Baroness’s outstanding report.
Lord Paddick (LD)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing these regulations. It will be well known that Liberal Democrats feel that drug misuse should be treated as a health issue rather than a criminal issue, but we draw the line where drug misuse leads to disorder or anti-social behaviour. Clearly, in this situation, drug taking at football matches is fuelling the disorder.
Do not get me wrong: cocaine is an extremely dangerous drug, and in my own professional experience I have seen people—healthy young men—die very quickly of heart attack from having excess cocaine in their systems. But here, we are talking about reckless and aggressive behaviour, as the Minister said. I do not attend football matches and I do not take cocaine, so I have to take other people’s word for the impact that taking cocaine in those sorts of environments has in terms of causing reckless and aggressive behaviour. I am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Faulkner of Worcester, who has a wealth of experience of soccer issues, for his very helpful and informative speech about the record on this issue, particularly the report of the noble Baroness, Lady Casey.
I am not sure about traces of cocaine on toilet cisterns. I think there were similar findings in the House of Commons, so we have to be very careful in drawing conclusions as to whether that is an indication of the prevalence of drug-taking. However, it seems absolutely ridiculous that football supporters can be banned for alcohol-related disorder and not for disorder related to the taking or supplying of cocaine at football matches. We therefore wholeheartedly support the regulations.
Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)
My Lords, I too thank the Minister for introducing this statutory instrument, which we support. I declare an interest as a sitting magistrate who has fairly regularly put in place football banning orders for various reasons. As the noble Lord said, this is about adding the possession or supply of class A drugs at football matches as a reason for giving a football banning order.
We welcome the work that the police have done with the football authorities to reduce violence and drug-fuelled behaviour at games, although I note the figures that the Minister and my noble friend Lord Faulkner gave about the deteriorating situation in recent years. As my noble friend said, it used to be so much worse back in the 1990s.
When was this matter first raised? Was it really as a result of the European final that it came starkly to the attention of Ministers, or were there concerns before that? Also, is there any evidence of similar concerns or problems with other major sports, such as cricket or rugby? Obviously we are talking about football banning orders, but how wide does this problem go?
Has there been any wider work done on why these problems seem to be worsening? Is it because of drug use, or are there other problems behind it? Is this being investigated by the Home Office? Is it that drugs are more generally available? There has been an increase in drug-related deaths in England and Wales in recent years, and we know that communities and children’s lives are being blighted by county lines gangs. What is being done to tackle the supply of drugs reaching fans and to ensure that police forces have the resources to support specialist drug enforcement teams and take action on recognising child criminal exploitation?
A football match should be a safe, accessible, enjoyable experience for fans of all ages, so what wider work is being done by the Home Office to encourage safe and positive environments for sports fans? We of course support the statutory instrument, but my questions go a bit wider, to other sports and to how this impacts on drug policy as a whole. I look forward to the Minister’s response.
Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con)
My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken and particularly note the widespread support for this measure, which is as it should be. I am sure we all agree that there is no place for class A drugs or the disorder they give rise to at football matches. This simple, practical measure to tighten the law will ensure that the football banning order regime properly encompasses those who commit drug offences related to football. I take particular note of the comments from the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, on the dangers of cocaine misuse.
I will try to address some of the specific points that your Lordships raised. The noble Lord, Lord Faulkner, quoted the statistics; I will go into a little more detail on those. Official statistics for the 2021-22 season show that there were 2,198 football-related arrests, which is a substantial increase—59%—on the last complete pre-Covid season. It is important to note that football-related arrests had previously been on a long-term down trend, reducing by some 50% since the 2010-11 season to record lows. Last season’s arrests total was comparable with the 2013-14 season. There were also 170 dedicated football officer-related incidents of supporter drug use during the 2021-22 season.
The noble Lord, Lord Faulkner, also referred to the Channel 4 documentary on Italia 90. I have not seen it—I am still mentally scarred by our loss to Germany, of course—but I will definitely watch it.
Lord Paddick (LD)
Before the Minister concludes, does he not agree that drug offences are fairly unique in that a drug crime is recorded only when police make an arrest? Therefore, the more effort the police put into the enforcement of offences involving possession or supply of drugs, the worse the problem appears in terms of the statistics. The emphasis should be on reducing the disorder that results from drug-taking rather than placing any reliance on the number of people arrested or convicted of drug offences at football grounds, because that could be the product of enhanced police enforcement rather than an increase in use.
Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con)
The noble Lord is almost certainly right, although I cannot prove or disprove that either way. But as I said, a considerable and comprehensive report was written after the disturbances at Euro 2020 which highlighted these issues, so it would be logical to conclude that police upped their activity and I would imagine that that led to an increase. However, I cannot prove that, and if I am wrong, I will of course notify the noble Lord. In the short term, I commend the regulations to the Grand Committee.
Alcohol Licensing (Coronavirus) (Regulatory Easements) (Amendment) Regulations 2022
(2 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Sharpe of Epsom
That the Grand Committee do consider the Alcohol Licensing (Coronavirus) (Regulatory Easements) (Amendment) Regulations 2022.
Relevant document: 13th Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (special attention drawn to the instrument)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Sharpe of Epsom) (Con)
My Lords, this instrument, which was laid before Parliament on 22 September, contains measures to provide ongoing support to the hospitality sector, which endured an immensely difficult period during the pandemic and is now grappling with cost of living concerns. As your Lordships are aware, the Government recently announced the energy bill relief scheme, which will provide a discount on gas and electricity bills for business customers, including those in the hospitality sector. This follows a number of measures to support the hospitality industry and other businesses during the pandemic and since Covid restrictions eased.
During the pandemic, we provided a package of financial support to businesses, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, and a business rates holiday for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses. We also introduced a number of regulatory easements through the Business and Planning Act 2020. Among those were temporary measures to make obtaining a pavement licence quicker and easier for those who wished to set up chairs and tables outdoors. Parliament has already agreed to extend those measures, and they will run until September next year.
A complementary measure on alcohol licensing gave a temporary off-sales permission to 38,000 licensed premises in England and Wales that did not have one. There were also measures which increased the number of temporary events notices that licence holders were allowed to give in a calendar year. Those provisions remain in place until December next year.
The instrument I propose today is relatively modest. It is an extension of provisions in the Business and Planning Act to allow sales of alcohol for consumption off the premises to licensed premises that did not have that permission for a further year, until 30 September 2023. In the intervening time there will be a consultation on long-term arrangements.
I assure the Committee that officials consulted the National Police Chiefs’ Council about the effects that the temporary off-sales permission has had. The view of the police then was that it had not caused any increase in crime and disorder.
I know that your Lordships will appreciate the impact that the pandemic and the cost of living have had on the hospitality industry, and I hope that you will support these measures to aid its recovery. I commend this instrument to the Committee. I beg to move.
Lord Paddick (LD)
I am very grateful to the Minister for introducing these regulations. I understand that many people were very concerned about going to on-licensed premises—going to the pub—because of their concerns about catching coronavirus. My personal experience of socialising in central London—very limited, because I am always here doing work—is that most restaurants and pubs seem to be very busy. I am not sure whether the Minister can tell the Committee whether that is universal or a phenomenon just in central London, but that is my experience.
My understanding of the previous regulations is that they were to try to compensate pubs that had only an on-licence for that lack of trade so that people who were anxious about catching Covid could instead get their alcohol to take away—they could take it home or even, when the weather was more clement than it has been for the last few days, drink it outside. The only thing I would ask is this. Why do the Government think that that particular Covid support, which is what these regulations are about, should continue? What evidence is there that people are still nervous about socialising in an enclosed space and that it is therefore necessary for on-licensed premises to be able to sell to people to take away?
If this provision is simply for other reasons—the noble Lord mentioned increased energy prices having an impact on on-licensed premises in particular, but there is also the cost of living crisis, with people feeling that they cannot socialise as much as they did in the past because of the pressure on household budgets—why not have an alternative measure? The noble Lord talked about consultation on more permanent measures, but, bearing in mind that the police say that there has been no adverse impact on giving on-licensed premises the ability to sell alcohol to take away, why has a permanent change not been brought forward, rather than what appears to be the rather spurious extension of coronavirus-specific regulations that we have before us?
I appreciate that civil servants, particularly in the Home Office, have been very busy with other things in recent months, and it may be that the easy route was simply to extend the coronavirus regulations, but we need to move on from the impact of the pandemic and the virus and be more honest. If we think that this is a good thing in the long term, we should have a permanent change in the law. I know the Minister said a consultation is being conducted on it. That would be more honest than extending coronavirus regulations that, by this time, should have come to an end.
Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)
One of my principal questions was going to be whether this is the easy route, as the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, put it, and whether there is a long-term review of the law. It may be appropriate to keep the changes in some cases and not in others, so I would be grateful if the Minister will respond to the points raised by the noble Lord, Lord Paddick.
We support this change. We have been told that, as far as the NPCC is concerned, there has been no increase in anti-social behaviour as a result of these measures. Did the consultation go beyond the NPCC? Were local police forces consulted? Are there variations in different parts of the country?
I too have experience of occasionally going to social events in central London, and it is true that the bars and restaurants seem to be extremely busy. However, in other parts of the country or other parts of London, many restaurants and pubs are shut because of the impact of the pandemic, as well as changing habits. How much variation across the country have the Government seen? Is this blanket approach appropriate and how should it be looked at over the longer term? Does the Minister have any updated information on the impact of Covid on the hospitality sector and its recovery? One reads extensively of the hospitality sector still struggling because, in spite of our experiences in central London, the numbers are not back to where they were, and this is proving a problem.
Have any local authorities raised any concerns about extending these changes? Are there any extra costs or burdens on local authorities? Finally, were any local communities consulted? Did they have views on the extension of these licences?
The central question is that asked by the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, about how this temporary change, which we approve of, fits into a wider review of provisions that were brought in during the pandemic, some of which may continue while others do not.
Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Con)
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lords who contributed. I am thankful for their general support for this measure and their recognition that we should be looking to support our hospitality industry, which has suffered a tumultuous few years and continues to feel the after-effects of the pandemic; I will come on to that in a second.
The noble Lord, Lord Paddick, questioned the fact that this a temporary measure and asked why it is not being made permanent, since it extends the off-sales provision only until next September. Let me go into some detail regarding what has happened since the pandemic.
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2022
(2 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Bellamy
That the Grand Committee do consider the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2022.
Relevant document: 13th Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bellamy) (Con)
My Lords, I beg to move that the Committee do consider this statutory instrument to amend the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. The effect would be to enable any current or potential sponsor on the Homes for Ukraine scheme in England and Wales to be eligible for the highest level of criminal record check undertaken by the Disclosure and Barring Service. This is known as an “enhanced criminal record certificate with barred list” check and would be carried out by local authorities responsible for approving sponsors. As your Lordships know, such a high-level check reveals any criminal convictions that would otherwise be spent under the 1974 Act and any barring order preventing the person concerned working with children or vulnerable persons.
Your Lordships will be aware that Homes for Ukraine is a sponsorship scheme in which individuals in the UK offer up their homes to Ukrainians fleeing the war. Since its launch in March, more than 100,000 Ukrainians have arrived in the UK as part of the scheme. I pay tribute to the families and individuals who have offered up their homes to those fleeing the war. However, it is right that we make sure that adequate safeguards are in place to ensure the safety of those arriving from Ukraine. Without this amendment, certain enhanced DBS checks would not be possible.
In practical terms, two scenarios are particularly relevant to the proposed amendment. The first is a process called domestic rematching, where the original match arranged by the sponsor and beneficiary breaks down, is deemed unsuitable or expires. When this happens, the local authority may rematch the beneficiary with a new sponsor. In these circumstances, the guests can find an alternative host who would be willing to take them in that further rematch, arranging it either themselves or through the council or a third party.
When arranging the original match when the refugee first arrived, the original sponsor would have gone through the equivalent of an enhanced DBS check as part of the visa process. But if there is a change of sponsor after the visa has been granted, when the refugee is already here, under the existing law all the local authority can do is carry out a basic DBS check on the new sponsor. That basic check would not reveal any spent convictions or any barring order. Given the vulnerability of many of these refugees, the Government consider that a power to carry out an enhanced DBS check is appropriate for all sponsors, particularly to deal with the rematch situation.
The second situation the Government have identified where higher-level DBS checks are necessary is for unaccompanied children who are not travelling with, or to join, a legal parent or guardian in the UK. In July the Government expanded the Homes for Ukraine scheme to enable children to come to the UK without a parent or legal guardian to stay with a sponsor who, except in exceptional circumstances, should be personally known to the parent or legal guardian. Under current regulations, the higher-level DBS checks can be carried out on most Homes for Ukraine sponsors for these children. However, at present only the basic DBS check can be carried out on the sponsor or members of the sponsor’s household if they have a family relationship with the child.
However, the concept of a family relationship is somewhat vague and sometimes these family ties can be quite loose. For example, a parent in Ukraine may be entrusting a child to an extended family member with whom they do not have any close or recent relationship. An aunt may have a partner in the house who is completely unknown to the parent or guardian in Ukraine. In the Government’s view, the vulnerability of these children, unaccompanied by their parents or a guardian, means that enhanced checks on all adults in the sponsor household, whether related to the child or not, are a sensible precaution.
I emphasise that this is a power to carry out the checks. A spent conviction revealed through an enhanced check will not necessarily prevent an individual becoming a sponsor, but it will give the local authority access to a fuller range of information, strengthen safeguarding arrangements and be a proportional response to the unique circumstances of the scheme.
On a more technical level, changes are necessary to two legislative regimes to bring about these enhancements. The first is the one we are considering today, this amendment to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. The other is an amendment to the Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) Regulations 2002 and 2009 to enable access to the records held by the police. The relevant changes to the Police Act requirements have already been made by a statutory instrument laid by negative resolution by the Home Office, which came into force on 13 October last. The order before your Lordships today requires an affirmative resolution of both Houses and was approved by the other place last Wednesday, 26 October. Similar changes were made in Northern Ireland on 3 October, and the Scottish Government have also amended their legislation. Your Lordships’ approval is, as it were, the last piece of the jigsaw.
Lord Dholakia (LD)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for explaining why this provision is necessary. This SI amends the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 to enable current or potential sponsors under the Homes for Ukraine scheme to undergo a full criminal background check undertaken by the DBS. In essence, the changes are designed to give local authorities more flexibility to undertake the highest level of DBS checks on sponsors who are related to children under 18 or to relations who require additional support due to age, disability or illness.
As someone who was responsible for promoting a Private Member’s Bill on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, I see no reason why this legislation should not be supported. Any legislation to ensure that an applicant who is prepared to can host a refugee is welcome. Currently, the host can undergo an enhanced DBS check when they have an unrelated person under the age of 18 or in rare circumstances when the sponsor is providing additional support to a non-family guest who may have additional needs. If the host houses a related person under 18 or a related person with additional needs, they can currently undergo only a regular DBS check.
Enhanced DBS checks are higher than basic checks and should incur an increased cost for local authorities. At present they bear a heavy cost for looking after refugees and asylum seekers. What provision is available to assist local authorities if the present method of payment is not sufficient? The SI should theoretically grant flexibility for local authorities to process applications for sponsors who live in complicated circumstances where it is not immediately clear which DBS test they should be eligible for. Are there systems to ensure that DBS checks are available for refugees and asylum seekers when accommodation to house them is provided by local authorities? Of course, we have serious concerns about children who cannot be traced and who end up being exploited by those who use them for trafficking.
This SI provision applies in England and Wales only. The Minister mentioned discussions with the Scottish authorities on this provision. Have the Government consulted the Scottish authorities about how they deal with such issues? Finally, can we be assured that such checks are carried out on refugees in hotels and detention centres at present?
Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing this statutory instrument, and of course we support it. The noble Lord, Lord Dholakia, very effectively set out the background to this. I will just set the scene and then ask a few questions of the Minister. First, I personally know a number of friends and colleagues who have welcomed Ukrainians into their homes. I am sure others in the Room have the same experience and, from what I have been told, it has been a positive experience for all concerned. However, there have been problems and we need to be realistic about them.
Lord Bellamy (Con)
My Lords, I thank noble Lords for their support for this amendment. In response to the noble Lord, Lord Dholakia, on his question about the cost of a DBS check, my information is that a basic check costs £18 and an enhanced check costs £38. The Government’s view is that that can be absorbed within the resources already made available to local authorities.
The points the noble Lord made on the comprehensiveness of the systems available to make sure that children are safe, do not disappear and can be traced are primarily for the Home Office. I venture to say that the Government have them well in mind and will do our very best to ensure that the points rightfully made by the noble Lord are fully taken into account in the administration of the Homes for Ukraine scheme. I thank the noble Lord for his comments.
The noble Lord, Lord Ponsonby, asked various questions. On his first point about spent convictions, there is of course always a tension as to where you draw the line between the rehabilitation of the offender and the protection of the vulnerable. When I said that this was a power, I meant to convey that, having carried out these checks, the local authority does not have to refuse the sponsor. It could say, “This was 15 years ago, it wasn’t very serious and he’s been a perfectly good citizen ever since, so we’re not going to take that into account”. This simply gives them the opportunity to have the information; that is the essential point.
On the various loopholes and questions, again, they are primarily for the Home Office, so I will make my response subject to further guidance from the Home Office and correct it if I get it wrong. My understanding is that hosts are expected to inform the local council when the refugees arrive and leave so that there is full information constantly available. Whether that always happens may be another question but, as far I know, the obligation is there; I will correct my statement if it turns out to be incomplete or wrong.
As far as the multi-occupancy of a house is concerned—this was another perfectly legitimate question—I am not in a position to answer on that, but I take it that the local authority should carry out these checks on an appropriately wide basis. If it is the case that the refugee or child in question is in the relevant household, everyone in that household must be checked. What the household is and who is in it is no doubt a question of fact to be addressed, but the Government certainly support the suggestion from the noble Lord that a check should be carried out on as wide a basis as is necessary to ensure the safeguarding of the refugees in question.
I hope that I have addressed at least the main questions that have been raised. I thank your Lordships for their support.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (No. 3) Order 2022
(2 years, 1 month ago)
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Lord Callanan
That the Grand Committee do consider the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (No. 3) Order 2022.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Lord Callanan) (Con)
My Lords, I beg to move that the draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (No.3) Order 2022, which was laid before the House on 7 September 2022, be approved.
The UK Emissions Trading Scheme—the ETS—was established under the Climate Change Act 2008 by the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020 as a UK-wide greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme to encourage cost-effective emissions reductions, contributing to the UK’s emissions reduction targets and our net-zero goal. This scheme replaced the UK’s participation in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme—the EU ETS—and the 2020 order applied existing rules on the monitoring, reporting and verification of emissions with modifications to ensure that they work for the UK ETS.
The 2020 order was subsequently amended by several statutory instruments in 2020, 2021, and 2022 to set up the scheme. These included provisions for the free allocation of allowances and the UK ETS registry, as well as a series of technical and operational amendments to improve the running of the scheme. Regulations under the Finance Act 2020 established rules for auctioning allowances and mechanisms to support market stability.
The purpose of this order is to amend the 2020 order to enable the inclusion of flights from Great Britain to Switzerland within the scope of the UK ETS. The existing UK ETS currently covers domestic flights, flights from the UK to the European Economic Area, and flights between the UK and Gibraltar. Since our departure from the European Union, flights between the UK and Switzerland are not covered in either the UK ETS or the Swiss Emissions Trading System, creating a gap in ETS coverage.
The Government consulted on the policy in this draft instrument between May and July 2019 as part of a consultation on the future of UK carbon pricing. In the 2020 government response to that consultation, we committed to include UK to Switzerland flights within the scope of the UK ETS if an agreement could be reached with Switzerland. I am happy to say that we have now agreed with Switzerland to cover these flights, and Switzerland has amended its relevant domestic legislation to ensure that flights from Switzerland to the UK are included in the Swiss ETS from 2023.
This instrument amends the 2020 order to include flights from Great Britain to Switzerland in the definition of “aviation activity” and to bring them within the scope of the UK ETS for the start of the 2023 scheme year. In 2019, UK to Switzerland flights amounted to approximately a quarter of a megatonne of CO2, which is less than 0.2% of the UK ETS cap for the 2023 scheme year.
Noble Lords should note that the policy intent is to include flights from across the UK to Switzerland within the scope of the UK ETS. However, as the Northern Ireland Assembly was not able to consider affirmative legislation at the time when the instrument began the legislative process, this legislation brings only GB to Switzerland flights into the scope of the UK ETS. Once the Northern Ireland Assembly is functioning, equivalent legislation will be proposed to the Assembly as soon as possible to ensure that all flights between the UK and Switzerland are then covered. This order will enable the inclusion of flights from Great Britain to Switzerland within the scope of the UK ETS.
In conclusion, this SI will close a gap in coverage in the UK ETS, fulfilling the commitment set out in the government response to the future of UK carbon pricing consultation and upholding our agreement with Switzerland. On that basis, I therefore commend this order to the Committee.
Lord Teverson (LD)
My Lords, I very much thank the noble Lord for that explanation. It is good to see the usual BEIS team opposite.
I went to Switzerland on holiday this summer. I was very lucky to do so. We went by train.
Lord Teverson (LD)
Yes.
We avoided airfares and carbon emissions from aeroplane travel. I bring this up because one of the issues is that the cost of travelling by train all the way through from Cornwall where I live and back again was significantly more expensive—I would say up to three times more—than travelling by air. This is a real issue in terms of climate change emissions and the whole way we manage this area.
At the heart of that to some degree is the tradition that comes from the EU ETS, which is a free issue of permits. I am sure that the Minister will be able to tell me what it is, but I think that the price per tonne of carbon in the UK ETS is around £60—I am not sure, but it is a significant amount of money anyway. I am interested to understand how much money or valuable assets we are offering as a public authority to the airline industry in terms of the number of permits times their value. I would be very interested to understand that. The airlines are able to sell on these permits, and quite rightly, because it is a marketplace. That is how we incentivise the industry, and other industries, to make their carbon emissions much more efficient.
Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)
My Lords, I, too, thank the Minister for his full explanation of the SI before us today. I have a feeling that we will have many opportunities in future to discuss the success and progress of emissions trading schemes in general, and I am fairly certain that there will be a focus on this at COP 27 next week. I look forward with interest to seeing progress generally.
Obviously, the situation with Switzerland had to be resolved. I am pleased that this instrument has come before us today. I thank the Minister for his explanation about Northern Ireland and the impact of the impasse in the Assembly, including what effect that is having in this area. I have a couple of questions. What assessment has been made of the impact of flights to Switzerland not being included in the UK ETS during the period between leaving the EU and the start of next year, when this instrument comes into force? Is there any way that this could have been avoided? Hindsight is a wonderful thing, of course.
The impact on the public sector will be mainly in the form of additional revenues from the auctioning of land for these flights. Have the Government made an estimate of the value of that? Generally, are there any other, similar gaps that the Government are looking to close? Are they looking to develop the ETS by extending elsewhere in a similar manner? Obviously, this is a complex area for operators working in this space. Do the Government think that aircraft providers will need any additional guidance to make changes as a result of this instrument? If so, what steps are the Government taking to provide this?
In spite of those questions, I am pleased to see this measure in front of us today; I look forward to seeing it move forwards.
Lord Callanan (Con)
I thank noble Lords for their contributions. I am particularly grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, for sharing his holiday experiences with us all. I expect he will bring his photograph album next time. I was going to say that it would show him lying on the beach but, of course, there are no beaches in Switzerland; perhaps he will be lying on the lakeside in Switzerland. I am grateful to both noble Lords for their support for these proposals and their questions.
This Order in Council, as it will be, will enable the inclusion of flights from Great Britain to Switzerland within the definition of aviation activity and bring them within the scope of the UK ETS for the start of the 2022-23 scheme year. As I said, we will seek to include flights from Northern Ireland as soon as the Northern Ireland Assembly is functioning.
In response to the noble Baroness, Lady Blake, although UK-Switzerland flights amount to approximately a quarter of a megaton of CO2, which is less than 0.2% of the UK ETS cap for the 2023 scheme year, this legislation will enable us to uphold our agreements with Switzerland and the UK Government’s commitment to the 2020 government response. Clearly the proposals will ] not have a significant impact on the costs of participating in the UK ETS for the vast majority of participants, although aircraft operators running flights between Switzerland and Great Britain will of course see a slight increase in their obligations as a result of the expanded scope.
As the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, correctly stated, to reduce the risk of carbon leakage, a proportion of UK ETS allowances are allocated to aircraft operators for free, which they can use towards their scheme obligations, and flights from Great Britain to Switzerland will be able to apply for a free allocation entitlement. In the Government’s response to the Future of UK Carbon Pricing consultation, we committed to reviewing the UK’s approach to free allocations to ensure that carbon leakage is appropriately mitigated. It supports the UK’s high climate objectives and preserves the incentive to decarbonise, which is what we want. The commissioned economic research on aviation carbon pricing found minimal risks of carbon leakage for the aviation sector under the current scope of the UK ETS, and the consultation proposed three potential phase-out trajectories of aviation-free allocation. The consultation also explored potential updates to the UK ETS free allocation methodology, including benchmarking and updating activity data and how we account for new operators.
Furthermore, as set out in the energy White Paper, the UK net-zero review and, most recently, the Developing the UK’s Emissions Trading Scheme consultation, which was published in March this year, the Government remain open to the possibility of linking the UK ETS internationally. Under the terms of the TCA, the UK and the EU agreed to co-operate on carbon pricing, including through giving consideration to linking our respective carbon-pricing schemes.
The noble Baroness, Lady Blake, asked what assessment has been made on flights to Switzerland not being included since leaving the EU and the instrument coming into force, and whether or not that could have been avoided. When establishing the UK ETS, our priority was to ensure, as far as possible, continuity of coverage. That included an agreement with the EU to cover flights between the UK and the EEA in the UK ETS and the EU ETS. The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement provided for coverage of the EU ETS for flights from the EEA into the UK and set a precedent for including departing flights without, at the time, a full linking agreement. We will follow this precedent for flights between the UK and Switzerland. Flights from the UK to Switzerland will indeed represent a very small proportion of the total flights and emissions within the UK ETS.
In addition, the noble Baroness, Lady Blake, asked whether the Government think that the aircraft provider will need additional guidance and what steps we are taking. In total, UK ETS auction revenue in 2021 added up to £4.3 billion. We estimate that the UK ETS will raise over £6 billion in 2022 if prices remain at or around the current level, which is an average of £80 a tonne for the first six months of 2022. Once the legislation is laid, the Environment Agency will get in touch with aircraft operators to clarify exactly what their new obligations are.
I think I have dealt with the questions noble Lords asked. I therefore commend this draft order to the Committee.
Inter-American Investment Corporation (Immunities and Privileges) Order 2022
(2 years, 1 month ago)
Grand CommitteeRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
That the Grand Committee do consider the Inter-American Investment Corporation (Immunities and Privileges) Order 2022.
The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park) (Con)
This instrument, which is subject to the affirmative procedure, was laid before Parliament in draft on 11 October 2022. It will be made once it is approved by both Houses. It confers immunities and privileges on the private sector lending arm of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, the Inter-American Investment Corporation. This arm of the bank is known commercially as “IDB Invest” and I shall refer to it in that way hereon.
The Inter-American Development Bank Group works to promote greater security and stability within Latin America and the Caribbean. The bank is a key partner as we work towards our objectives in the region, which include promoting democracy and economic growth, preventing organised crime and taking action on climate change. We are also working to deepen trade and investment relationships, and to prevent and prepare for the next pandemic.
The Inter-American Development Bank Group is an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington DC. It is the largest source of development finance for Latin America and the Caribbean. It provided $22.9 billion in 2021. It shares similar policy objectives with other international financial institutions, such as the World Bank Group, to accelerate economic and social development. The UK has been a member of the bank since it was established in 1959 and we have used our shareholding to help shape it. This includes securing a commitment from the bank, ahead of COP 26, to align its portfolio with the Paris Agreement by 2023 and to increase the volume of finance that it provides for climate change.
The bank plays a critical role in providing loan finance to Governments across the region to support development projects, including in infrastructure, health and education. However, private sector investment across the Latin America and Caribbean region is also critical to driving growth, creating jobs and tackling climate change. To strengthen the group’s focus on investing in the private sector, it agreed with its shareholders in 2015 to merge out its private sector operations to form IDB Invest. This is now a separate legal entity within the group, with its own board and shareholding structures.
Today, IDB Invest provides around $6 billion of finance per year to businesses, with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises. The UK voted in favour of the merge-out and agreed to transfer $7 million of UK capital from the bank to IDB Invest. In 2018, the IDB Invest treaty was presented to the UK Parliament. The final stage of the process to join IDB Invest is to ratify this treaty.
As we join an international organisation, we are required under international law to grant it the necessary immunities and privileges. The International Organisations Act 1968 allows His Majesty to do this by Order in Council. It is long-standing UK policy to grant immunities and privileges only where they are needed, and I can assure Members that the immunities and privileges afforded to persons connected with IDB Invest are strictly limited to those required for them to conduct their official activities. They are not for their personal benefit. They are also in line with those offered to officials of other international financial institutions of which the UK is a member. They include immunity from suit and legal process for staff in respect of their official acts, and tax exemption. Members should note that the income tax exemption does not apply to British citizens.
Lord Bruce of Bennachie (LD)
I thank the Minister for that introduction. We appreciate that the consolidation of the bank’s arrangements has led to this situation; that is perfectly understandable.
I will raise just one or two questions. The Minister said the bank aligns with UK aid, but on previous multilateral assessments the bank has not performed as well as other international institutions and international banks in a number of areas, particularly on inequality and gender issues. It has improved on climate change, which the Minister will be particularly pleased about, but can he indicate the extent to which the bank aligns and the extent to which the UK can influence it? We have a UK director—I assume we still have—and it would be interesting to know what his or her brief is and what they are looking for, given that we are a very small shareholder in the bank. The UK and the bank worked together on the green bond initiative. I wonder how that has developed and whether it could develop further.
With the bank operating here, is there a particular objective to being in the UK? Its interests clearly are not here. Is it about raising money? Is it about partnerships? It would be helpful to have some idea of the bank’s interests in being in the UK.
This is a small point, but I see that the Scottish law is different. Just for clarification, given that the Scottish Government have been consulted and have agreed, is there any significance to this? Will the passing of instrument and the relevant legislation in the Scottish Parliament ensure, from the bank’s point of view, that the UK operates as a homogeneous whole and that there are no differences? An international bank such as that might have some trouble if there were internal differences.
We have just had an election in Brazil, which has been welcomed by many people, particularly on climate issues. Again, I am sure the Minister will be very supportive of that. I suppose the question is: is there an opportunity for the bank to refocus and reprioritise? To the extent to which there is, does the UK have some capacity to shape that so that it matches UK aid objectives?
As an aside, UK aid objectives are somewhat confused and reduced at the moment, but I very much welcome the reappointment of Andrew Mitchell as the Development Minister attending Cabinet, because I know from his past record that he will certainly want to ensure that UK development aid gets back to where it has been, not just in financial terms but in quality and impact.
The Inter-American Development Bank is not the most important vehicle for UK aid and development but, given that we are part of it, it is important that it aligns and that we use whatever influence we have to help shape it. I will be grateful if the Minister is able to give us any flavour of that.
Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for those questions. I shall not repeat them, although I was going to cover some of the issues myself. One thing that struck me, which the Minister mentioned, was that, when we presented the treaty in 2018 to join the bank, the associated impact assessment stated that secondary legislation would be required to grant immunities and privileges. I am not at all surprised that we have this SI, but I am slightly interested to know why it is happening four years later. Just to pick up the point, it would be good to better understand what prompted it to come now.
The Minister mentioned that there was no physical presence of the bank in London, but is there going to be? If there is going to be, what are the reasons for that? Is it something that we can positively influence and shape? We heard from the noble Lord about how we might be able to have influence, even as a minor shareholder. He is absolutely right to draw attention to the election in Brazil and the fact that there will be a greater opportunity to push the green agenda. Given that the Amazon is the lungs of the world, it is even more important that we focus on that.
I have just a couple of technical points. When SIs of this nature have come up before, particularly as part of privileges, I have asked the specific question about road traffic offences and immunities and whether they are part of those privileges. I hope that the Minister can reassure us on that. On the question of physical presence, if he is expecting there to be one, is there any anticipation about the number of officials who are non-UK citizens who might be here?
In conclusion, I agree with the comments that have been made. This is positive news; we welcome this, and we certainly welcomed the treaty and our engagement with the bank in 2018. In its original presence, it has been around since 1984, and the more we can influence it, the better. Such investment has an important role to play in development and reaching the UN’s 2030 agenda on sustainable development goals. We certainly welcome these regulations, which should allow the corporation to contribute to that.
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con)
I am grateful to noble Lords for their contributions and questions, and I shall do my best to answer them. I welcome the support for our membership of IDB Invest.
I turn to the questions from the noble Lords, Lord Bruce and Lord Collins, who both mentioned the scope for further alignment of international objectives between the UK and IDB Invest. We are very much moving in the same direction already; the IDB played a very important role in the run-up to and at COP 26. Noble Lords will remember that, as part of our forest package, we secured commitments from what are now 145 countries, representing 91% of the world’s forests, to end deforestation and reverse it by the end of this decade. We secured $20 billion in finance from Governments and philanthropists to help them to do that, and, as part of it, we got the multilateral development banks, including the World Bank, to commit to aligning their portfolios not just with Paris but with those broader deforestation goals as well. We would not have been able to do that had it not been for the intervention of key figures in the IDB. I am personally very grateful to them for the support that they provided during COP and in the run-up to it.
Obviously, climate change continues to be a top international priority for us and is a key priority for the IDB. In the context of that region, the obvious contribution that can be made to the challenge of tackling climate change is protecting the lungs of the earth, as the noble Lord, Lord Collins, said. There is no solution to climate change that does not involve nature and protecting and restoring degraded forests. From the perspective of the IDB, the Amazon is absolutely central. This remains a priority for us. At COP, we committed £200 million of UK ODA to support efforts to protect the Amazon, and we are working in many other ways to amplify that support; it is not just financial.
Both noble Lords mentioned the election in Brazil. From the point of view of the environment, climate change and the protection of the Amazon, the result was wildly good news. The previous Government had a hostile attitude to environmental protection and, in particular, the indigenous people who live in the forest. President-elect Lula takes a completely different approach. He has been bullish and ambitious in the statements he has made about his plans to protect the Amazon. We will of course do absolutely everything we can to support him in those endeavours.
I should also say that he has a record: under his previous two terms, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon came down very markedly, and it went up very sharply under the last Government. So we know that it can be done, and we stand ready to support our friends in Brazil in whatever way we possibly can, alongside other donor countries, with which I have had many conversations in the past few days about how we might work together to support the new Government in that objective. I thank noble Lords for raising this issue.
The noble Lord, Lord Bruce, talked about other areas of the IDB’s performance. IDB Invest certainly has space to improve but it is found to be good for transparency, and it is rated as one of the highest-performing organisations in that regard. As one of its priorities, the UK will use its membership of the IDB to invest in and push for higher levels of transparency still, greater learning across the bank and the sharing of best practice. This very much remains on the agenda for us but we are happy with our relationship with the multilaterals. There are numerous big multilaterals, and not all of them are as easy to deal with as the IDB on the issues I have just talked about.
Both noble Lords asked about the likely presence of the IDB in the UK. It does not have a staffed office at the moment; the only people who are expected to be granted immunities and privileges, therefore, are staff members who travel to the UK on official business—for example, to meet UK Ministers or businesses. We anticipate that fewer than 10 IDB Invest staff will travel to the UK per year on official duties.
With respect to the important point made by the noble Lord, Lord Collins, about road traffic accidents, it is hard to discuss this issue without making reference to the tragic case of Harry Dunn. Before moving on, I should say—I know that everyone in the Room will echo this—that my deepest sympathies very much remain with his family; I pay tribute to their resolve. We are pleased that criminal proceedings are now taking place in that case. It is a long-standing government policy to seek a carve-out of immunities relating to road traffic accidents when granting privileges and immunities. However, the possibility of such a carve-out was not included in the establishment charter for the IDB in 1959, so it was not passed through to the IDB Invest treaty. Instead, the FCDO has negotiated a bilateral memorandum of understanding with IDB Invest to mitigate this risk. The MoU states that IDB Invest staff members are not permitted to drive a vehicle on official business in the UK.
The noble Lord, Lord Collins, asked why it has taken so long to ratify the UK’s membership. The delay in laying the required legislation was the result of two factors: first, the higher priority given to legislation to facilitate our exit from the EU; and, secondly, the time taken to negotiate an MoU with the bank to clarify that IDB Invest staff members are not permitted to drive a vehicle on official business in the UK.
It is good news that we are now here. In taking up our membership of IDB Invest, we will undoubtedly be better placed to influence the investment that it makes to support private sector development. This will allow us to support the UK’s goals of promoting development and reducing poverty in a region of enormous strategic importance. Once again, I thank noble Lords for their contributions and commend the instrument to the Committee.
Adult Social Care Information (Enforcement) Regulations 2022
(2 years, 1 month ago)
Grand CommitteeRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Lord Davies of Gower
That the Grand Committee do consider the Adult Social Care Information (Enforcement) Regulations 2022.
Relevant document: 13th Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee
Lord Davies of Gower (Con)
My Lords, the draft regulations laid before the House on 5 September allow the Secretary of State to impose a financial penalty on private adult social care providers that fail to submit information required under Section 277A of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 or provide false or misleading information.
This statutory instrument will make sure that the Government receive a regular, standardised and accurate set of data from providers of social care to give us an up-to-date understanding of how the care system is functioning, what problems are emerging and where those problems are. This in turn means that the Government can support providers and the social care system as a whole to serve the care needs of the population, offering people choice, control and support to live independently.
At the start of the pandemic, it became clear that, here at the centre, we were lacking up-to-date information about the functioning of the social care system, as we had no comprehensive national source of data from providers. For instance, we did not know how many people were receiving care, where they were receiving it or where capacity was in the system, and we lacked provider-specific information about the workforce.
The Government relied on data mainly captured through aggregate annual returns from local authorities and periodic returns from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, supplemented by state of care briefings from the Care Quality Commission and from Skills for Care on the workforce. By the time we received this sort of information it was of little use to respond to on-the-ground situations.
As an interim response during the pandemic, the Department of Health and Social Care expanded the use of the capacity tracker tool, which at the time was used by providers primarily to share information about their bed vacancy, so that we could collect the information we desperately needed to give us a picture of the front line of social care. This gave us near real-time data to manage risks and issues that were presented on the front line, but, until the Health and Care Act 2022, it was difficult to require providers to do so.
Since the pandemic, most providers have continued to complete the capacity tracker, and it has continued to be a valuable source of data. However, with the ending of the infection control funds, we have seen completion rates decline. Therefore, we have taken steps to put provider data collection on a sustainable, long-term footing through new powers inserted into the Health and Social Care Act 2012 by the Health and Care Act 2022.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care now requires registered adult social care providers to submit data via the capacity tracker tool. This includes data on bed vacancies, service users, workforce resourcing, vaccination status and visiting data. We recognise that data collection can be onerous for care providers and, in making this data collection mandatory, we reduced the frequency of data collections from weekly to monthly. We have also removed data fields where the information was no longer critical.
Our intention is to share appropriately collected data with organisations across the adult social care sector that need it to guide delivery, policy development and research. The information submitted will be subject to the UK general data protection regulation.
Through the 2022 Act, we can now require the information from providers. This is already in place. It is important to note that what we are debating today is the legislation to enforce that requirement. Enforcement is through financial penalties, which have been developed to make sure that the mandation of the data is effective but also done in a way that is proportionate. The draft regulations therefore cover the amount of the penalty, the service of notices, the right to make representations and the right to appeal to the tribunal. The regulations set out that the level of the penalty will be the same as a provider’s Care Quality Commission registration fee, which is scaled to provider type and size.
It is our intention that these enforcement powers are used as a last resort. A notice of intent will be given before imposing a penalty, and the provider will have the right to make representations as to why it should not be imposed. Thereafter, a final decision will be taken and, if it is decided to impose a penalty, a final notice will be given. The provider will then be able to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal—the UK courts—if it disagrees with that decision. There is also provision in the regulations for notices to be withdrawn, for the recovery of financial penalties in the county court and for a duty to review the regulations every five years.
We need these draft regulations because we need to be able to enforce the information duties created by the Health and Care Act 2022. In particular, the Act inserted new Section 277A into the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to enable the Secretary of State to require information from regulated providers of adult social care services about themselves, their activities and the persons to whom they have provided care. New Section 277E provides for regulations to be made to enforce that duty to provide information through the imposition of financial penalties. We hope, and very much expect, compliance to be the norm so that financial penalties are not required. However, a deterrent is important, and these regulations provide powers to impose financial penalties if needed.
The Government’s priority is to support providers to share their data wherever possible. The data required will be proportionate, and providers will normally be given three months’ notice of any changes to the data requested unless there are any particular extenuating circumstances. Financial penalties will normally be a last resort, for example where a provider continues to be, or is persistently, in breach of its data obligations despite multiple offers of support from our delivery partners.
So what have the Government done so far? In our data strategy, we set out our vision for how data will be used to improve the health and care of the population in a safe, trusted and transparent way. Ultimately, we want a health and care system that is underpinned by high-quality, readily available data that is collected once and shared appropriately with those in the sector who need it. This is critical to the running of our health and care services and will help to improve adult social care commissioning practice, improve outcomes for people receiving care and provide greater oversight of the sector.
I beg to move.
Baroness Tyler of Enfield (LD)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for setting out the policy intention behind these regulations; for reminding us of the very real problems that were experienced during the pandemic due to the lack of data in the field of social care; and for explaining how these regulations would operate in practice. I simply want to make a couple of general points then ask a couple of quick questions.
I am certainly in favour of better data collection in this area. In broad terms, I certainly support these regulations. It seems to me that, if we are to tackle the current crisis in social care, we need a far better picture and understanding of the sector at all levels—that is, what is happening locally, regionally and nationally. Unless we have that information in a more standardised form that people can use, it is very difficult indeed for those in the sector who need to plan and provide the higher-quality care that we all want to see. The availability of this data is absolutely crucial to both those who commission and deliver social care and those who are responsible for ensuring good outcomes for those individuals who use it.
For too long now, there has been too little information. It has been difficult to share it across the sector and it has not been standardised, which has not helped. These regulations are an opportunity to address these problems and move the dial forward, as well as improving transparency and accountability in a sector that has often felt quite opaque to many people. With this opportunity, I hope that a greater joined-upness—if I may use that term—in data collection and availability will be at the forefront of the minds of the people putting these regulations into practice. As the Minister acknowledged, the more we can have an “ask once” dataset, the better to achieve the objectives I have just set out.
I have two questions. It has always been important to us on these Benches that data collection is in keeping with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK GDPR. The regulations say that it will be, so that is good and proper and as it should be. But can the Minister give a specific confirmation that this will always remain the case and will not be something that a future Secretary of State might try to come back and change? If that were the case, we would not be able to continue our support of these regulations.
Finally, I was pleased to see that the fining of providers would be a last resort and proportionate, particularly to their size. Again, I query whether it would be possible for a future Secretary of State to change that without coming back to Parliament. I would worry if that were the case because, frankly, small social care providers do not have the reporting structures and the administrative support of the NHS. There needs to be some real understanding of their situation in the way that these regulations are taken forward.
Baroness Wheeler (Lab)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing the SI, which sets out the process of fines, including notice periods and the right of appeal, for adult social care providers that fail to provide any or accurate information to the Health Secretary without reasonable excuse. It is important for adult social care providers to be required to supply the Department of Health and Social Care with key data and information. The use and further development of the capacity tracker, which was the only tool available to get the vital data needed during the pandemic, is a welcome step forward.
It is indeed truly striking, as the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler, said, that prior to the pandemic there was no comprehensive national data from providers on workforce status, bed availability or the number of people in receipt of care. Regularised, standardised and accurate data is vital in order to get an up-to-date understanding of how the care system is functioning. The noble Baroness, Lady Tyler, made that point very forcefully. It is very worrying that since the infection control fund ended, data completion and submission rates from care homes have declined. How are care homes to be supported in the work involved, in light of their current desperate shortage of staffing and funds?
We recognise the need to put information submission from care homes on a statutory footing and acknowledge that the SI is largely uncontroversial. It flows from amendments to the Health and Social Care Act 2012 made by the Health and Care Act 2022, as has been stated, on more extensive and accurate data provision and transparency in the sector, which we all argued for and supported at the time. Has the Minister made any assessment of how much money will be paid in fines each year? Will smaller providers definitely be able to digest government guidelines and keep up with monthly data collection? Can the Minister be sure that no care homes will be forced to shut or scale back their services due to these regulations? The reassurances that providers that do not submit data will be helped and supported and that fines will be the last resort are also welcome, as the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler, said.
Lord Davies of Gower (Con)
I am grateful to the noble Baronesses for their contributions this afternoon.
The noble Baroness, Lady Tyler, and I were on the Public Services Committee during Covid, and one thing we were very conscious about was data collection. That was highlighted on that committee, so I am very aware of the points that were raised in that respect.
On the purpose of data collection and support, as I am sure the noble Baroness appreciates, the availability of good quality and timely data from ICS providers is essential to improve the service for all users, support efficient commissioning and systems assurance and manage national, regional and local risks. The data is needed to continue to support Covid recovery, monitor vaccination levels, understand capacity and risk in the care system more generally, understand the impact of winter pressures, determine when and how to target support to providers and, ultimately, help facilitate the care of individuals across the care system long term.
The noble Baroness, Lady Tyler, asked about transparency. Our programme of work to improve data in adult social care includes updating the adult social care outcomes framework to ensure that it better captures the outcomes that matter most to people and reflects the Care Act 2014 and reform. It is used locally and nationally to set priorities for care and support, measure progress and strengthen transparency and accountability. We are developing an ISC data framework, which will start to set out what data gaps we have, our approach to addressing them, the purpose of those collections and the standards to which they are collected.
The noble Baroness, Lady Tyler, asked about guarantees for future Secretaries of State. I cannot stand here and speak for what a future Secretary of State will do but, for now, I can assure her that the data will be subject to the UK GDPR.
The noble Baroness, Lady Wheeler, asked about the burden on small businesses. We hope to see full compliance so that financial penalties are not required. Our priority is to support providers to share their data wherever possible. The data required will be proportionate and we do not anticipate it being onerous. Financial penalties will normally be a last resort, where a provider continues to be or is persistently in breach of its data obligations despite multiple offers of support from our delivery partners.
The noble Baroness also wanted some assurance on data collection. As I said, our aim is to work closely with stakeholders to identify and agree key data needs, as well as look at opportunities to streamline current data collections from ASC providers, so that data can be captured once and shared safely with all those who need it.
Another point raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Wheeler, was on fines. As I said, we hope to see full compliance so that financial penalties are not required. Our priority is to support providers to share their data wherever possible. The data required will be proportionate and we do not anticipate it being too onerous, as I said earlier.
I think that covers most of the points that were raised.
Baroness Wheeler (Lab)
I also asked about the cost of the appeal process and the five-year review.
Lord Davies of Gower (Con)
As I mentioned in my opening remarks, the appeal process is through the courts. If it would be helpful, I can guide the noble Baroness through the level of fines. They will be the same as a provider’s CQC registration fee, which is calculated based on the type and size of the provider. These are examples of fines: where the care home provider has fewer than four beds, the penalty will be £313; where the care home provider has 16 to 20 beds, the penalty will be £2,388; and where the care home provider has more than 90 beds, the penalty will be from £15,710. Here are further examples: where the domiciliary care provider has fewer than 20 users, the penalty will be up to £1,597; where the domiciliary care provider has 26 to 50 users, the penalty will be from £1,651 to £2,954; and, lastly, where the domiciliary care provider has 76 to 100 users, the penalty will be from £4,366 to £5,670.
As I mentioned in my opening remarks, details about the process of appeal are standard and set out in the relevant rules for the First-tier Tribunal, rather than in these regulations. The standard deadline for making an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal is 28 days after the decision—in this case, 28 days after the final notice.
In conclusion, we want to build a better picture of adult social care services across England so that, at the local, regional and national levels, people in the sector have the information they need to provide high-quality care and support to people who need it. These draft regulations will ensure that we continue to get vital information from all registered adult social care providers and that, where providers do not make a good-faith effort to provide the data or do not otherwise have a reasonable excuse for not doing so, they are held to account. I commend these draft regulations to the Committee.